GHEAT BELL OF RANGOON, gSl 



There are also images of beings who lived in former times, and are 

 said to have been anthropophagi. These images are monstrous in their for- 

 mation, and disgusting in their appearance. 



The large monument situated near Rangoon, called Skwe-da-gorit is the 

 most celebrated in the country. It is antecedent to all others, about two 

 thousand three hundred years having elapsed since its foundation was laid, 

 and the first building formed. It is a solid mass of mason work, and is 

 somewhat more than three hundred feet in height. Its circumference, at the 

 base, is nine hundred cubits, or one thousand three hundred and fifty-five feet. 

 The area on which it stands, is about eight hundred feet square, and is acces- 

 sible on each side by stone steps varying in number, the least of which is 

 eighty. The monument is covered with gold leaf. The cap, or crown, sur- 

 mounting it, is thirty-six feet in height, and contains of gold, the bodily weight 

 of his late Majesty. The original monument was small, and has been en- 

 larged to the present dimensions by successive additions. It is not, however, 

 the magnificence of this immense pile that renders it, for so it is, peculiarly 

 an object of national respect and veneration. Underneath its massy weight 

 are deposited the relics of the four last Bud'hs, viz. the staff of Kauk-ka-ikayif 

 the water-dipper of Gau-na-gon, the bathing garment of Ka-tha-pa, and eight 

 hairs from the head of Gau- la-ma. Five Bud'hs belong to the present system of 

 the world, and Arimade^a, the last, is to appear many millions of years hence. 



In the Burmese account of the origin of the world, it is stated, that 

 after the dissolution of the former system, which was effected by a flood 

 of waters, a lily of immense height and size arose, having on its top five 

 buds, and four branches extending from the sides of the stalk. The 

 five buds contained each a Thengan (the yellow cloth of a priest) and were 

 indicative of the number of Bttdh's pertaining to the system. Four of these, 

 as mentioned before, have " opened," or *' blossomed,'* as the Burmese 



2 Y 



